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Leominster American finishes pool play 3-0

By Matt Stewart, Correspondent

Updated:
07/04/2013 06:37:13 AM EDT

WINCHENDON -- Dominance might be the only way to describe the Leominster American Little League All-Star team. American executed back-to-back 20-plus run games in two days, completing a 20-0 four inning mercy shortened victory over Winchendon Wednesday evening at Padeni Field.

Leominster advances to the double-elimination District 3 Little League championship bracket with a perfect 3-0 record in pool play. Winchendon saw a disappointing end to its season with an 0-3 mark.

"Top to bottom, the kids can hit," Leominster American head coach Greg Parson said. "They put the ball in play and we put pressure on teams to make plays. We've got good speed and the kids do a great job. They go up and look for their pitch and are aggressive, but they don't swing at bad pitches."

By the look of the score, one might assume there was strong hitting from the entire American lineup, but the most potent bats happened to come from the very bottom of the order. Eighth hitter Jack Devaney went a perfect 3 for 3 with three RBI, while No. 9 hitter Liam McNiff was just as impressive, going 3 for 4 with an RBI.

"It was the first game (McNiff) started for us," Parson said. "We wanted to make sure we got him a full game in pool play. He comes out and gets three hits. (Devaney) has been hitting the ball hard the last few weeks of the season and was tremendous."

Starting pitcher Alex Perez was nearly as perfect, pitching three shutout innings and allowing just one hit. Perez struck out over half the batters he faced, tallying six Ks in the process.

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"We wanted to keep everybody under 50 pitches because we play again Saturday," Parson said. "(Perez) throws strikes and mixes his pitches. He's got an interesting arm angle and it's tough for teams to pick up. He was awesome and hit the zone."

American wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. In the top of the first inning, as three straight walks loaded the bases and with one out, Zach Delgiudice was hit with a pitch to open the scoring.

Perez helped his cause when he grounded into a fielder's choice, but an errant throw to home allowed two runners to score. Mario Meza had an RBI groundout next, which upped the lead to four. This led to Devaney sending a flare to left field to plate the fifth run.

The hits continued as McNiff singled and Frank Lunetta connected on a RBI single to center which capped off the scoring in the opening inning at six.

After a scoreless second inning, Leominster kept the pressure on in the third. Devaney drove in a run and Devaney later scored on a passed ball with the bases juiced. Nathan Smith then drove in a run on a sacrifice which made it 9-0.

Leominster really blew the lid off the game in the fourth inning, scoring 11 runs, which doubled up the mercy rule threshold. Dylan Sousa came in off the bench and drove in a run on a sacrifice before Meza and McNiff added RBI singles. Following another run on a passed ball, it was 13-0.

Bryce Parson also connected on a RBI single, then Tyler Carr plated another on a fielder's choice.

Leading 15-0 Leominster got aggressive on the bases. Delgiudice doubled to right field plating two, then Sousa doubled to center to bring in another pair of runs. Two batters later, Devaney capped off the scoring with an RBI double to push the score to 20-0.

"We had some fun," Winchendon head coach Jake St. Pierre said. "I think we used all of our great plays yesterday and the kids were a little tired. You could just tell from the beginning that the air was let out."

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